What's with the quotation marks around "better served," issmat? I don't see that phrase anywhere in IMO's comment. The community is better served by having land whose common use they pay for with their taxes actually left usable, instead of having it fenced off and being charged money to render it unusable for its designated purpose.

I hate the 's' too, by the way. Nobody started calling it this until maybe 10 years ago. The Commons are the grounds to be shared by the people who pay for them, i.e. the common. See Garrett Hardin's "The Tragedy of the Commons." Nice to see Lezlie Lowe putting the 's' back in, now that she's over at the Herald.